Nothing like the holidays to bring out family differences!  Everywhere we go this holiday season we hear stories about the other families they have celebrated with or will shortly.  Everyone has stories to tell about their other family's dysfunction.  We all sit and laugh about those crazy relatives.  But then I leave and have to wonder what stories about us are being told to the next round of visitors.

We all have our own strangeness.  We all have our own ways of dealing with rowdy kids, late meals, the family member who is never on time, and the one with very different political views.  Then we find ourselves all at the same table sharing a meal and then sitting around a tree trading gifts.

Some of us just suck it up and endure.  Some of us yell back at the yellers and argue with the disagreeable ones.  Some of us just zone out and ignore everyone.  Some of us try to make peace and resolve differences.  Some of us sit back and watch the whole thing laughing hysterically inside (or outside).

And then there are the families that gather together and actually have fun, enjoying one another's company, happy to be together, eager to catch up on stories.

Lots of folks compare congregations to families.  Does the comparison fit?